Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Virginia Mayhew Quartet: Mary Lou Williams — The Next 100 Years

Unless you’re a bona fide
senior citizen or jazz historian, you may not be familiar with Mary Lou
Williams, and that’s a shame. She was born in 1910 and died in ’81, so
many potential fans never had an opportunity to hear her in person. Further,
during the period that encompassed the 1960s until her death, the genre
emphasis was on the big bands and bop and, but Williams preferred to play
straight-ahead jazz with combos.

As a result, her recording
endeavors were limited; so is her discography.

All that said, the important
indication of her quality comes from the impact she had with jazz icons. She
was playing with Duke Ellington when she was just 15; at 19, she was asked to
join Andy Kirk’s famous Clouds of Joy band; she later rejoined Ellington’s
Orchestra and then had a gig at the famous Café Society. Throughout this
period, she was writing arrangements for Earl Hines, Benny Goodman and Tommy
Dorsey, and was mentoring the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Tadd
Dameron and Hank Jones. They knew how great she was!

Williams’ career flourished
through the 1970s, and she performed at numerous concerts and
festivals. She was a guess artist at the White House and participated at
Benny Goodman’s Carnegie Hall Concert, both in 1978.

Saxophonist/composer/arranger
and historian Virginia Mayhew is a huge Williams fan. Mayhew has been
active in the New York City jazz scene since 1987, and has worked with many
renowned artists, including some who were part of Williams’ tenure. This
tribute album, one of Mayhew’s projects, concentrates on Williams’ prowess as a
composer; during her career, she produced more than 100 compositions, and well
over that number of arrangements for name bands. Ten of her best are
featured here.

You’ll immediately notice
how “modern” everything sounds, which is further proof of how far ahead of her
time Williams was. Nothing sound dated. Admittedly, Mayhew’s
re-arrangement skill has much to do with this. Additionally, the excellent
artists involved also deserve credit: Guitarist Ed Cherry, bassist Harvie S, drummer Andy Watson and guest trombonist Wycliffe Gordon joined Mayhew, who
plays a lotta tenor sax.

The result: a
joyful, swinging group that plays the heck out of just a few of Williams’
charts. She would have loved it!